Queen City Jewels In HDTV

I saw Time Warner's "Queen City Jewels" trilogy of high-definition films tonight at the Cincinnati Museum Center. You'll be able to see them starting Thursday on demand on Time Warner Channel 1111, if you're a Time Warner digital cable subscriber.

Time Warner spent about $250,000 to make three 7-minute HDTV films showcasing the Museum Center, Cincinnati Zoo and Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. The pictures shot by Maurice Glover, TWC senior multimedia developr, were terrific. We screened them in the Museum Center theater; I can only imagine what they'll look like on a HDTV set.

Our Time Warner Southwest Ohio division is one of the first in the nation to offer local HDTV on demand. It could be the first, but they're being cautious by saying one of the first. So far they only have these three shows.... but it's a start. Kevin Kidd, the SW Ohio division president, and the man behind this project, says the 7-minute films will be offered to TWC systems from coast to coast, to promote tourism here, "so people will be able to see what Cincinnati and southwest Ohio has to offer." (Unfortunately, they'll see a lot about the Pete Rose exhibit which will be removed from the Reds Hall of Fame before Opening Day.) But these films make these three institutions look pretty cool.

I wonder if other producers have local HDTV films that could be placed on TWC's HDTV on-demand Channel 1111?